to be juliet's secret
by xdecoydreams
Summary: He forgets how fragile she really is. 04: He's brilliant, but there's so much he has to learn.
1. the return

**title: **to be juliet's secret.  
><strong>summary: <strong>He forgets how fragile she really is.  
><strong>dedication: <strong>To Selene (_seleneswan_), who celebrated her birthday, like, 432523691 years ago. Here's the beginning of the fic I promised you — happy belated, love! :D  
><strong>disclaimer: <strong>disclaimed~.  
><strong>notes: <strong>PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS A RE-UPLOAD FROM _FRAN DRINKS TEA_. KBAI.

**prompt(s): **softly / sun's glow

.

.

.

.

.

Naruto was always calling her beautiful, but Sakura wasn't sure if she knew what beauty really was.

She moved slowly, savouring the feeling of complete solitude, complete calm. Her hands clasped behind her back, she put one foot in front of the other, then paused for a few moments just to look around herself; Konoha in the rainy season was brilliant, yes, but Konoha _after_ the rainy season really was something. The sky was a brilliant shade of robin's egg blue, cloudless and somewhat refreshing, and it wasn't that hot, yet — it was a summertime morning, so it was only natural for it to be just warm.

Sakura couldn't remember a morning this perfect, this _wholesome_.

It was so nice to have a day to herself, she thought, collapsing onto a vacant bench, letting her interwoven fingers untangle themselves and letting her arms stretch out to drink up the sun (she'd been pale for so long, now, and she thought it really was time to get some colour into her skin, even just a little). She threw back her head, and stared at the untarnished blue canvas above her. She wondered what it would feel like to fly around, up there.

—_perhaps this is what beauty is_.

If Naruto thought that Sakura was beautiful, he needed to see this — see this _purity incarnate_.

Sakura wasn't beautiful. Or, at least, she didn't compare to Konoha after the rainy season.

.

.

.

It was a midsummer day when he returned — he just sauntered through the village gates, acting like he'd just been gone for the weekend, acting like he wasn't a _traitor_. When he was arrested, he almost acted _surprised_.

Sakura and Naruto stood beside the Hokage, and Sasuke stood before them, half a smirk on his face. Sakura's fingers curled themselves into fists. _The arrogance of this guy…_

It was a midsummer day, but it was raining, outside.

"You realise you could face execution, correct?"

"Hn."

Naruto tensed slightly at Tsunade's words — execution? Wasn't that a bit extreme? He didn't realise he'd actually _voiced_ his thoughts until Sakura landed a punch to his ribs. She, personally, couldn't care less.

She'd lived without him before, she could do it again.

Sasuke looked at her from beneath lowered eyelashes. The smirk had gone. The look on Sakura's face was unlike that of the last time he'd seen her; last time, she'd been crying and yelling, weakness incarnate and _childish_. Now, Sasuke hated to admit, she was strong, with a fierce sort of determination in her eye and a sharpness to her features. She'd matured in _other ways_, too — her shoulders were broader, her cheekbones were higher. She had muscular arms and a womanly curve.

This wasn't Haruno Sakura. This was someone worth Sasuke's time.

"You've changed quite a lot, Sakura. It seems four years does a girl some good after all," he spoke calmly, as though he didn't want to agitate her; it didn't seem to work, as she turned and gave him a harsh look anyway. "You seem stronger."

"I am," She replied through gritted teeth. "I also don't care if you get executed or not, and will continue not to care, no matter how much you try and compliment your way back into my heart."

The room fell into an uneasy silence. Naruto placed one hand on his teammate's shoulder. "Sakura, isn't that a bit…harsh?"

For the first time, Sakura shrugged him off. "No, it's not. It's the _truth_."

Sasuke fidgeted in his shackles, watching the exchange with a mild disinterest. He caught Tsunade's eye, who shot him a narrow glare, much like the glare that Sakura had given him — there was no mistaking it, the Hokage must've been Sakura's mentor. There was no way that the broad-browed girl had become that strong, that _fierce_ all by herself. The amber-eyed woman rose out of her seat, and the two Team 7 members stopped talking.

"I will release you, for now, but you will be under strict surveillance. Three strikes, and you're out." Tsunade dragged her palm, horizontal, across her throat. "Miss Haruno will be your escort."

Sakura slammed her fist into Naruto's cheek accidentally, as she flailed her arms in protest. "_What_? Why can't Naruto — "

"I'm sending Naruto on a mission," She gave her blonde counterpart a look. "No complaints. I will explain it to you once _this_ matter has been resolved."

"Tsunade, I swear, I'll do the mission — I'll do it _twice_, just don't make me — "

"_No. Complaints_."

Sakura whipped her head and narrowed her eyes at her ex-teammate. "You — "

"I'm hurt that you wouldn't want to take care of me," Sasuke's voice was silky, as usual, and his smirk was wide. "_Sakura_."

She lunged for his throat.

.

.

.

"You probably would have been able to avoid all this trouble if you hadn't tried to kill me," Sasuke calmly pointed out. "You realise that, right?"

Sakura forced out a laugh — cold and cutting, it was the falsest thing Sasuke had ever heard. She sunk onto the bench beside him, and laughed some more as she dug her elbow into his ribs. It could've be seen as a playful gesture, but really, it was just the closest Sakura was allowed to get to killing him. "Aha, you're so _funny_."

She ignored Sasuke's amused stare, and the raised eyebrow. "I wasn't trying to be. I'm serious — you act annoyed, but it's your own fault you're 'lumbered with me', as you'd put it."

The silence that followed didn't last long. Sakura heaved a sigh, and slumped further down onto the bench. "Yeah, yeah, you're right, I suppose."

"…and…"

"And…" She heaved another (annoyed) sigh. "I'm sorry I tried to skin you and hang your dead body on my living room wall."

"That's — " Sasuke looked at her sideways, lifting his eyebrow again and subtly examining her pissed-off face in the sunset. "You tried to _what_?"

Sakura simply shrugged, and admired the sky, which was, tonight, painted a million shades of gold with a few splashes of highlighter colours thrown in. She reached up with one hand and extended her fingers, stretching until the skin between each thin digit was pulled taut.

"You ever seen Konoha on the day the rainy season ends?"

Sasuke spared her an interrogative sideways glance. She wasn't looking at him — her gaze was still transfixed on the sky. "Yeah, of course I have. I lived here before I left, didn't I?"

Sakura looked at him. He looked back.

"So you've not seen it before since you left?"

"No…'sides, the rainy season's come and gone."

"Explains a lot. It's gotten more beautiful — it's so calming. You feel like you can fly." Sakura's lips pulled into what could've been a smile. "Maybe you wouldn't be such an ass if you saw it."

Sasuke turned his face to the sky.

"You wouldn't be so lucky, Haruno."

And then, he smiled.

.

.

.

.

.

**outro: **Don't favourite without reviewing!


	2. the healing

**title: **to be juliet's secret.  
><strong>summary: <strong>He forgets how fragile she really is.  
><strong>dedication: <strong>For Selene (_seleneswan_), again. I ADORE YOU, A MILLION TRILLION AIR KISSES FOR YOU ON YOUR MERRY (UN-)BIRTHDAY.  
><strong>disclaimer: <strong>oui.

**prompt(s): **fragility / "My thighs are not fat! They're made of steel!" / quiet strength

.

.

.

.

.

Observing from the sidelines of the training grounds, Sasuke was forced to admit that she really _had_ grown.

He was no longer in a position to be sarcastic about it, because it was _true_.

As much as he hated being proven wrong…she had.

They left the grounds with barely a backward glance at the destruction she had left in her wake — it seemed impossible, to Sasuke's mind, how such a petite girl (albeit muscular) could cause such massive ruptures in such hard, dry earth. They walked not-quite-side-by-side, Sasuke slightly ahead of his "guard", in a heavy but somewhat natural silence which, to Sakura's evident relief, was filled by other sounds — birds in their nets, ninja darting from branch to branch above them

("Oi, was that Sasuke Uchiha? I didn't see!"

"You know, I think it might have been…")

and the distant hum of the town not far away.

Sasuke looked up.

Konoha had certainly changed since the last time he had seen it — it was calmer, perhaps owing to the fact that the war had long since ended. The sky no longer burned amber; the expressions people wore no longer were tense. It seemed that Sakura had grown at the same rate, in the same way — she, too, had once been broken and defenceless and _dull_.

He couldn't help but smirk.

"What're you grinning at?"

His smirk broadened, "I knew you'd gotten physically stronger, I had no idea you'd developed X-ray vision, though."

He could feel Sakura's stare, boring into the back of his head.

"No, actually," Sakura spoke through half-gritted teeth, and she fell into step beside him. "Surprisingly enough, when you fall in and out of love with a person as many times as I have with you, you learn their body language down to a T."

Sasuke stopped in his tracks, cocking an eyebrow. "Body language?" he echoed, tipping a head in an uncharacteristically confused manner. Sakura turned, placed her hands on her hips, and bowed her head in such a way as though to hide her glowing red cheeks.

"Y-yeah, body language. You either bow your head, or raise it, when you smirk, just a fraction," Her tone became steadily more uncomfortable, "I noticed that back — back in the Academy days, when we were…when we — " She flailed her arms, "_Stop grinning like that_."

"You're being awfully fragile about feelings you claim not to care for, these days," Sasuke said quietly, glancing up at her from beneath his bangs. "Are you sure your mouth is saying the same as your heart is?"

Sakura tossed her hair out of her face, suddenly regaining her air of authority over the Uchiha. She stood tall, confident, _strong_.

"I don't see why I'd lie. After what you did, I don't think anyone in Konoha is capable of feeling anything more than acknowledgement for you," she said. "I'm not going to lie — I did _used_ to love you. But then you left, and…it's just a little hard to think about the days when you, me and Naruto were happy together. I think, if you were in _my_ position, you'd be reduced to a stuttering mess, too. This has nothing to do with my romantic feelings, so I suggest you don't bring that up again."

She made to stalk away.

Not understanding a word she'd just said, Sasuke followed.

.

.

.

Even the way she ate ramen seemed more defined, and that…yeah, that kinda pissed Sasuke off.

Enhanced strength, he could handle. Attitude? Sure. But _sophistication_…

That just wasn't fair. Not even he could eat ramen and look good.

"You're gonna get fat if you guzzle it like that," he lied. "Slow down a bit."

Sakura, who, out of the pair, had the cleanest, soup-free chin, looked at him from over her chopsticks, one eyebrow raised jauntily. She eyed the piece of fish stuck to his upper lip, "I'm sorry?"

"…you're guzzling."

"And you're lying."

"…hn."

Sakura chuckled, taking time to chew and swallow her mouthful. "I took etiquette classes from Ino's mother when you were gone. Jealous, that you're not the only _classy_ ninja in Konoha, anymore?"

Sasuke simply rolled his eyes. "Just because you can eat ramen _delicately_ doesn't mean less calories," he jabbed a chopstick at her bowl. "You're still going to get fat."

"I won't get fat."

"Fat_ter_, then."

"I'm not fat!"

"Have you seen your thighs?"

"I do not have fat thighs," she replied shrilly, waving her soup spoon in the air and showering herself with stock, "I'll have you know that I have legs of steel!"

"Hn…whatever you say."

Sakura flapped her arms, and Shizune watched from the lamp-lit street, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Team Seven was on its way to healing.

.

.

.

.

.

**outro: **Mm, shorter than the last, and a bit more…filler-ish. Idk, these are meant to be drabbles, they don't necessarily have to connect one after the other, right?  
>I CAN DO WHAT I DAMN WELL LIKE.<br>Please review!


	3. the need

**title: **to be juliet's secret.  
><strong>summary: <strong>He forgets how fragile she really is.  
><strong>dedication: <strong>To Selene, obviously. You're one cool kid, yo. BD  
><strong>disclaimer: <strong>Applied.

**prompt(s): **blades / fierce

.

.

.

.

.

Training with Sakura, now, certainly was an interesting experience, quite unlike any of his solo training sessions. They were infinitely different to any training he'd partaken in with Naruto, and, most prominent of all was the difference between training with _this_ Sakura, and training with the Sakura from all those years ago.

He remembered, back in their Academy days, training with her had been like picking flowers — not particularly taxing, and not really something he wanted to be doing. Back in their Academy days, training with Sakura consisted of him pointing a kunai in her direction, her giggling uncontrollably and commenting on how grown-up-shinobi-like he looked, him sighing, and her reluctantly arming herself with a handful of shuriken, none of which she actually used — her favourite use for ninja stars was admiring her reflection in the mirrored surface.

Training with her _now_, on the other hand, was not unlike a real battle. Training with her now, was not unlike the battles he'd engaged in with some of the deadliest ninja known to man — she had Naruto's strength, Lee's speed, Gaara's bloodlust raging in her eyes.

She both scared him like Itachi had, and enticed him, very much like Orochimaru once had.

.

.

.

A millisecond of dropped guard meant a very hard, very painful chakra-laden fist to the face, too, as Sasuke had now discovered. He opened and closed his mouth, rubbing his jaw, and glared, in the most undignified manner, at the grass between his legs.

"You should have dodged," Sakura shrugged, nonchalantly, as she passed him the wrung-out, damp cloth.

"And you," He pressed the cloth to his throbbing jaw, "Should learn to feign attacks. This is training, not survival of the fittest."

Sakura lifted an eyebrow, "Still bitter about my amazing chakra control, I see?"

"Tch, not one bit."

Sakura, using the criss-cross wire fence behind her to haul herself up, got to her feet, stretching her arms up and then out — Sasuke watched, his jaw steadily numbing, and readied himself to block any oncoming attacks. She'd done that before, feigning distraction before pouncing, and Sasuke had to admit, it was a terribly good technique. She really was a marvellous actress.

But she didn't attack. Instead, she moved steadily across the field on a diagonal, towards where a medium-sized shack seemed to teeter precariously in the breeze. She threw open the door (Sasuke was certain he saw cracks begin to form in the woodwork), rummaged for a moment, before producing two long, shiny, silver swords, with blades like sharks' teeth, longer than Sasuke's arm.

He lowered the damp cloth from his face, placing it back into the water bowl, and he, too, got to his feet.

"What're those for?"

It seemed a silly question, but Sasuke didn't understand why they'd be training with such deadly-looking weapons. Surely wooden swords would be used for training?

Sakura, with one leather-gloved hand, seized the blade of one sword and passed it, handle-first, to Sasuke. "Training, what else?"

Sasuke took the handle, and shifted the sword in his grasp. It was heavy at first, but somehow, it adjusted itself to his grip, the handle stretching and moulding to fit his hand, its weight shifting to his personal taste. Lifting an eyebrow at a sword-wielding Sakura, he thrust the tip of the blade into the grass. "Aren't they a bit…sharp, to train with?"

"Are you scared?"

She smirked, eyes flashing devilishly.

Sasuke blinked.

Was that a _challenge_?

Oh, hell no.

He removed the sword from the ground, and smirked back at her.

"Not in the _slightest_."

.

.

.

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork, and smiled.

"Ramen, you say?"

Shizune shook her head.

"What they were eating is not the _point_," She sighed, still trying to maintain a respectful tone whilst getting a clear message across. "The fact is that they're…slowly…becoming Team Seven again. Or, two-thirds of Team Seven." She smiled widely. "Isn't that wonderful? We could well have Konoha's strongest team back."

"And what about Naruto? Doesn't he get to be a part of the love-in? And what about Kakashi?"

Shizune blinked.

"Team Seven hasn't healed, Shizune," Tsunade said with a small, wistful smile, "But in time, Sakura will heal Sasuke, and Sasuke will heal Sakura, and together, they will heal the team. That is why I sent Naruto away, and left Sasuke with Sakura; because they need each _other_ more than they need anyone else. They are the most broken of the team, and two wrongs make — "

"A right." Shizune finished, nodding slowly. "I understand."

The office fell into optimistic silence.

.

.

.

It was sunset before the pair hauled each other back towards the village, holding each other upright with equally tired arms, each as wounded as the other, each smiling as warmly as the other.

.

.

.

.

.

**outro: **A short one, a fluffy one, a "me likey" one.  
>Review, please! 8D<p> 


	4. the learning

**title: **to be juliet's secret.  
><strong>summary: <strong>He forgets how fragile she really is.  
><strong>dedication: <strong>The long-ago birthday girl. And to my AAG hoes. ;D

**prompt(s): **pages between fingers / teaching, learning, bonding

.

.

.

.

.

The sun was near to rising, caught halfway between steel grey and a million different shades of peach, and Sakura could feel the morning approaching, on her skin; she didn't feel cold, she didn't feel warm, she just felt…refreshed. Calm, and refreshed.

The training grounds of an early morning were still and empty, save for the straw dummies hanging limply on their poles of steel. The grass, dewy and wet, was unmarred by muddy footsteps and droplets of fresh crimson (for now), and there was no sign that the fenced-in area of grassland was so frequently the site of bloodshed and stress, of memories that hurt to recall.

With a deep breath, and a shake of her head, Sakura opened the gate, her bag slung over her shoulder and her holster packed with fresh kunai.

Stepping warily (one could never tell if there would be discarded weaponry, concealed in the grass), she made her way over to the edge of the grounds, where she always liked to sit against the criss-cross fencing. She crossed her legs as she sat, first patting the ground with her foot to check for shuriken blades, and placed her bag beside her, fumbling inside the pack for her book.

She opened the leather-bound edition of _Kunoichi through the Ages_, and began to read.

.

.

.

He couldn't remember how long he'd watched her for — a while, presumably, considering how the sun was only half-risen when he arrived and now it was three-quarters of the way into the air, hovering like a pendulum between the sea and the sky. He didn't even know _why_ he was watching her.

There was just something captivating, to Sasuke, about the way Sakura read. Her thin fingers held the pages with a feather-light touch, her eyes skittered along sentences, paragraphs, forming facts in her mind, and there was a simple sort of elegance in that.

He pushed off the wall, and with a sigh, moved towards her, raising a hand in apology.

"Sorry 'm late," he said.

She jumped, closing the book as she did so, her shoulders twitching and her eyes widening in a panicked sort of way. When she saw Sasuke, she scowled, and stood to her full height (which, even now, was a good two heads less than that of Sasuke). "You scared me."

"I noticed," he replied, quietly. "_Kunoichi through the Ages?_ Aren't you a bit old to be reading that? I swear you used to read that cover-to-cover at the Academy…"

The page crumpled slightly as her grip tensed. "I don't care, it's my favourite. It helped me…y'know. Change."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "A _book_ helped you get stronger?"

"Yeah, you should read it," She replied. "It's not _just_ about Kunoichi. There're some good techniques in here." She placed it down onto the grass, and forced a smile. "You want to get started?"

Sasuke turned his attention away from the open page.

"Teach me everything that book taught you," he said. "And if I feel it's beneficial, I'll stop taunting you. Deal?"

Sakura grinned. "Deal."

.

.

.

.

.

**outro: **THEY GET SHORTER. D:


End file.
